Rachel Adams

SELECTED WORKS BY Rachel Adams

Rachel AdamsRecliner

2011

Wood, fabric, glue, photocopy paper, gouache

70 x 160 x 70 cm

Rachel Adamsâ€™ work is drawing, but not quite as we know it. Using paper draped over
wooden armatures to create large sculptural forms in bleached-out, faded pastel tones, Adams extrapolates one of drawingâ€™s traditional functions â€“ to define spatial relationships on a plane â€“ into three dimensions. Her work occupies the space of the gallery much as a bronze sculpture would, but with none of its mass and spatial aggression.

Rachel AdamsOttoman

2011

Wood, fabric, paper, furniture legs, gouache (green)

145 x 90 x 90 cm

Rather, her work seems both dominant and not, confrontational and self-effacing. Forms that nod to the human body, their titles (Recliner, Ottoman, Posturing) implying physical confidence and relaxation, contain contradictions.

Rachel AdamsPosturing

2012

Starched tie-dyed fabric, mdf, timer frame, painted waxed paper

posturing: 180 x 100 x 70 cm, plinth: 100 x 100 x 100 cm

Thereâ€™s nothing imposing about their delicate, crinkled surfaces, and yet they oblige a certain mode of engagement in the viewer â€“ looking up, around, behind â€“ that generate an unusual power imbalance between the viewer and the viewed.
Occupying the space of the human body, Adamsâ€™ works suggest a physical absence, something drained of life, yet crackling with potential energy.